Expert: Dr. Billy Kryger - 8/21/2007

Question
I sent this email to another pastor on this list and his reply was:

"I have already answered this question for you once before."

I assure you, I have never written to this forum before and would greatly appreciate it if you would answer the question for me. Thank you

Your Question was:

Dear Pastor,

I recently moved back to my hometown and starting attending the church I grew up in. It probably has 100 on it's rolls, but only about 15-20 attend regularly.  My question is: Does the Pastor of a church need to be a member of the church he is shepherding, whether by Baptist doctrine or scriptural. What determines if he should be?  The pastor is not a member and states that because he is a "paid servant" he does not have to be. The church I came from has a membership of 3000 with 1 senior pastor and 9 associate pastors and all are members. I am having a difficult time adjusting to the ways of my old church. Thank you for your commitment.

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Answer
    Thanks for your question, Jackie.
    While it is unusual for a Pastor to not be a member of the church he serves, and I am hard-pressed to recall any such church with which I am familiar, there is no scriptural requirement for him to be so.  Many times the church constitution states that any Pastors automatically become members upon assumption of their duties.  
    A possible situation which I would think the "Pastor" of the church might not be a member is if he was the Interim Pastor, just "filling in" until the church called a permanent Pastor.  Another may be a "church planter" whose intention is to get the church started, call a permanent Pastor and then move on to start another church.  Even in those scenarios the "Pastor" often joins the church for the time he serves there.
    Hope this answers your question.